Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black? If you haven’t read it yet, I’m highly recommending it. I haven’t even finished it and I’m all-in with this intriguing story and her talented writing.
This novel is one that was chosen by a member of our book club. Even though the novel was the winner of the 2018 Giller Prize, I may not have picked it up on my own. This is one of those books I’m so glad was in the book club because I would have missed out reading this excellent story. Of this novel, the jury wrote:
“How often history asks us to underestimate those trapped there. This remarkable novel imagines what happens when a black man escapes history’s inevitable clasp – in his case, in a hot air balloon no less. Washington Black, the hero of Esi Edugyan’s novel is born in the 1800s in Barbados with a quick mind, a curious eye, and a yearning for adventure. In conjuring Black’s vivid and complex world – as cruel empires begin to crumble and the frontiers of science open like astounding vistas – Edugyan has written a supremely engrossing novel about friendship and love and the way identity is sometimes a far more vital act of imagination than the age in which one lives.”
I was afraid it was just another (and ordinary) novel about slavery. Well, Edugyan made sure this was no ordinary novel. I’m relishing the engrossing story, being entertained by the writing, and can hardly wait to get back to finishing it! The legacy of slavery is still part of the fabric of America. While Washington is a slave, Edugyan certainly also has the reader considering the burden of and even the guilt of personal freedom. Also of note, there is such a sense of wonder in reading the first person narrative of the young protagonist, Washington Black. Just to intrigue you, here are the first sentence of the novel and the last sentence of the first chapter:
“I might have been ten, eleven years old — I cannot say for certain — when my first master died.”
“It was then, I believe now, that Big Kit determined, calmly and with love, to kill herself and me.”
Is there a book you’ve read recently, that you recommend? Or one that you never would have picked up on your own, but had to read for book club or perhaps was given the book as a gift?
i really must get back into reading. i always used to have a book in process and knowing the next book. at one point, i took up the practice of reading two books at a time. sigh…
your images are exceptional